Chapter IV: Watchmaker
"Watchmaker" is the fourth chapter in the twelve-chapter series Watchmen, written by Alan Moore and drawn by Dave Gibbons. It was released in December 1986 Characters Featured characters * Jon Osterman/Doctor Manhattan * Laurie Juspeczyk/Silk Spectre II * Janey Slater * Wally Weaver * Milton Glass * Ozymandias/Adrian Veidt * Dan Dreiberg/Nite Owl II * Walter Kovacs/Rorschach * Eddie Blake/Comedian * Nelson Gardner/Captain Metropolis * Hollis Mason/Nite Owl I * Byron Lewis/Mothman * Sally Jupiter/Silk Spectre I * Josef Osterman * Richard Nixon * John F. Kennedy * Edgar Jacobi/Moloch * Doug Roth * Harvey Charles Furniss * Bubastis Plot The chapter discusses Dr. Manhattan/Jon Osterman's current location on Mars and revisits various turning points in his life. When his father, a watchmaker, hears about the bombing of Hiroshima, he pushes Jon to become a scientist. Jon attends Princeton and is eventually employed by a research lab at Gila Flats in 1959, where he meets and eventually falls in love with Janey Slater. At a carnival, a fat man steps on and breaks Janey's watch. Jon later fixes the watch, but forgets it in his lab coat. When he goes to retrieve his lab coat from a test vault, he is accidentally locked in. When Dr. Glass and others arrive back from their lunch break, Jon embarrassingly asks to be released, but to everyone's horror, the vault has automatically time-locked and generators have already began warming up to begin an experiment: removing the intrinsic field from cell block fifteen. Expecting certain death, Jon examines the watch he has put back together. He is then disintegrated in a flash of light. A month later, "ghosts" of Jon begin to appear at the research site. First a circulatory system, then a muscled skeleton, etc. Finally, he appears as a complete being, entirely blue with abilities far greater than that of a normal human being. He retains all of his memories and has vaguely similar physical features, although he appears distant and somewhat unemotional to those around him. He begins to argue frequently with Janey, whom he still dates and says he loves and needs (although this is a lie). In addition to his new, purely scientific outlook on life, he can telekinetically assemble and disassemble objects, transport himself or others great distances, alter his size and multiply his image, among other things. He is almost immediately recruited as a military asset of the United States, given the moniker "Dr. Manhattan". He is touted as the first super hero with actual super abilities, worrying the active costumed heroes who are already beginning to disassemble for various reasons. Although he is the United States greatest weapon, he is apparently unable (or unwilling) to prevent certain disasters, such as the assassination of President Kennedy. In 1966, Jon leaves Janey for the then sixteen-year-old Laurie. He becomes a hero at Vietnam and is the only superhero to be left active after the Keane Act besides The Comedian, who is also employed by the government (and Rorschach, who evades capture). Then Jon briefly remembers Laurie leaving him and his current activities on Mars. He creates a giant, glass structure that rises from the soil, then stands on its balcony to watch a meteorite shower. Appearances Location * Arizona ** Gila Flats * New Jersey * New York City, New York ** Rockefeller Military Research Center * Washington, D.C. ** White House * Saigon, Vietnam * Antarctica ** Karnak * Mars Navigation Category:Watchmen Chapters